on the First Day of the Zenko Conference – July 26, 2025, Sagamihara in Japan
It’s an honor to be here among people who are doing their best to make society a better place for us—regular people,
regular workers.
I don’t know what I did to deserve standing alongside scholars, activists, and union leaders who have dedicated their
lives to improving the lives of people they don’t even know.
As a hotel manager and worker, all I did was tell an Israeli soldier on vacation from the genocide in Gaza: “I’m sorry,
I can’t accept your reservation—or else I risk being considered an accomplice to your war crimes.” For this simple
action I was the target of defamation and lost my job.
As a hotel manager, risk management was part of my job. It was my duty to ensure the safety and security of not
only my guests but also my fellow coworkers. How could I let that aside and welcome someone who, just days before,
had been participating in the ethnic cleansing and genocide of an entire people?
The IDF has proven, more than ever, to be a criminal organization. Just as every person who chooses to join the
mafia is considered a criminal, every person who chooses to serve in the IDF should also be considered a criminal—
regardless of rank, role, or position. They all contribute directly or indirectly to the ethnic cleansing, apartheid
enforcement, and genocidal killing machine that is the Israeli army.
Maybe you don’t know this, but hotels in Japan are legally allowed to refuse service to members of criminal
organizations. Many businesses explicitly state that they do not accept guests affiliated with the yakuza or other
criminal groups. To me, the IDF engages in criminal activities comparable to, if not worse than, these groups. At
the very least, yakuza organizations do not indiscriminately kill civilians using tanks and drones, nor do they
deliberately destroy houses, schools, and hospitals—only to post videos of such acts on social media for all to see.
The IDF does.
Accepting a reservation from a member of such a criminal organization would legitimize what they do in Gaza and
occupied Palestine as just another regular job. It would be akin to telling them that, despite their crimes, they still
have the same rights as I do—and as everyone here does. It would mean acknowledging that there are no
consequences for breaking international law.
Because of this simple logical act, I lost my job. I don’t regret anything, but I really liked my job, and I contributed
a great deal to that company. Now, I’m fighting my dismissal in court. They had no right to fire me in the first place,
because being forced to accommodate war criminals should never be part of any worker’s job description.
In the future, our children and grandchildren will ask what we did during the genocide in Gaza. I will say: *Maybe
I didn’t do much, but I refused to let Zionist soldiers act as if they were just like everyone else.* I know all of you
here will be able to say the same.
Boycott Israel! Free Palestine!
Thank you